Recently, I had the chance to
visit the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, and I
must admit that I was appalled at the conditions under which
these people are living.

Evidence of the war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan can be seen from the minute you take a
cab from the airport into the capital city­Nakhchivan. The
trees are all gone! Wooden stumps­like gravemarkers in a
cemetery­mark the spots where they used to grow. They've
all been chopped down long ago in a desperate search for fuel.
The Armenian blockade of Nakhchivan has resulted in a desperate
lack of fuel for both heating and cooking.

The main problems in the city
stem from lack of electricity and gas­services which used
to be supplied from Azerbaijan. These days, Turkey and Iran offer
electricity, but it's such a haphazard affair. The city is supposed
to have access to an electric supply in two-hour increments,
but even such limited access is not reliable. Hence, the lack
of trees.

Winters are harsh in Nakhchivan
and, consequently, to stay alive, people use every means possible
to keep warm and to cook their food. When they have not been
able to find any more trees, some have resorted to using their
own household furniture as fuel.

Gasoline is imported by truck
from Azerbaijan south through Iran (bypassing the strip of Armenian
territory that separates Nakhchivan from mainland Azerbaijan).
Such a trip over rough roads, takes an additional day and is
extremely dangerous because of the overload of volatile fuel.
The extra efforts to acquire fuel makes it exorbitantly expensive,
especially in a region where people suffer financially because
of high unemployment.

Despite these immense problems,
I was overwhelmed by the kindness and hospitality of the people
whom I visited. Their spirits were strong. They were genuinely
proud of their country and proud that President Heydar Aliyev
had been born in Nakhchivan and that he has been so instrumental
in helping them retain their new independence.

While in Nakhchivan, I was interested
in seeing conditions related to children, health and education.
Sevil Zeynalova, who is the Deputy Prime Minister and Agil Mehdiyev,
the Health Minister, facilitated my visit to several hospitals
that are desperately in need of refurbishment. By far, the most
desperate conditions were found in Nakhchivan's tuberculosis
(TB) hospital.

Although tuberculosis is being
treated successfully in most developing countries, it is on the
rise in Nakhchivan, especially among young people. The therapeutic
center where TB patients stay is so run-down. There was no electricity,
and temperatures were extremely cold even during the day. I couldn't
imagine what it would be like after the sun had gone down and
the warmth had escaped through windows that no longer had any
glass panes or through doorways where there were no doors.

To treat TB successfully, patients
need plenty of warmth, food and isolation. The doctors there
are trying to do what they can within their limitations, but
the equipment is so outdated and conditions are so poor that
they are unable to stop the spread of this devastating disease.

Another hospital that I visited
treated patients suffering from lung diseases such as asthma
and bronchitis. The patients were being kept in an underground
salt mine as part of their treatment. Each evening after the
mine closes, patients are transferred to the salt mine, some
20 minutes away, to stay until morning.

During the day they remain in
a cold, run-down building in the city. The treatment center was
really quite a unique place, and, prior to the Karabakh war,
people were said to have come from all over the world for this
drug-free treatment.

A new hospital, located near
the mines, was in the process of being built when the Soviet
Union collapsed. A crane stands frozen in time overlooking the
construction. The site has the potential to become an important
treatment center once the situation normalizes and the physical
conditions improve.

The Nakhchivan people have such
an appreciative attitude. I was immensely impressed by their
warmth, openness and hospitality and by their desire to show
me everything they were proud of. They remain optimistic about
their future. I observed a strong work ethic demonstrated by
the speed of construction when they have the means to do so.
I'm looking forward to return to bring some humanitarian aid
to this region.

Gwendolyn Burchell
Dorking, Surrey, U.K.

Editor:About
the Nakhchivan Blockade
The Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan is part of the Republic
of Azerbaijan. Its territory, 2,124 sq mi (5,500 sq km), is bounded
by Armenia on the north and east, Iran on the south and west
and Turkey, for a tiny stretch of about 10 kilometers on the
west.

Nakhchivan was deliberately
separated from Azerbaijan's mainland by Stalin in 1924 when a
small strip of land was given to Armenia. It was at this time
that Nakhchivan and Karabakh were both given autonomous republic
status within Azerbaijan, a policy deliberately created to fuel
local ethnic conflicts and thus distract the individual republics
from mounting larger independence movements against the Soviet
Union itself. The width of the strip of land separating Azerbaijan
from Nakhchivan is 46 km (approximately 20 miles). Although it
is a relatively short distance, it successfully succeeds in cutting
off Nakhchivan from direct physical ties from its economic and
political base-Azerbaijan mainland.

There are currently two blockades
that exist between Armenia and Azerbaijan though most people
have only heard of Azerbaijan's blockade against Armenia. However,
Armenia has also blockaded Azerbaijan, an event which occurred
even earlier (1989) than Azerbaijan's blockade against Armenia.
Both blockades have had incredibly devastating effects on separate
populations.

Armenia's blockade against Azerbaijan
refers to the southern rail connection between Azerbaijan and
Nakhchivan which runs parallel to the Araz River and the border
of Iran. On numerous occasions in the late 1980s, trains originating
in Azerbaijan were stopped enroute to Nakhchivan within this
short strip of territory belonging to Armenia. Passengers were
threatened, robbed and some were even killed. Not long afterwards,
the Armenians blew up a ten-kilometer section of the railroad
along this stretch. Ironically, this same rail system originating
in Baku continues through Nakhchivan north to the capital of
Armenia in Yerevan. So, in reality, Armenians, who constantly
complain about being cut off from fuel and supplies, blockaded
themselves.

When Armenians speak about Azerbaijan's
blockade, they are referring to the northern rail route which
Azerbaijan cut off after realizing that goods and fuel carried
over this route were being used in the war in Karabakh against
them. Azerbaijanis viewed such an arrangement as pure suicide
and decided to cut off supply lines to a country that was aggressively
at war against them. After all, they asked, since when do countries
at war supply their enemies?

However, the U.S. Congress passed
legislation in 1992 based on half-truths set forth by the Armenian
Lobby. This legislation, known as Section
907 of the Freedom Support Act, denies all direct aid
to the Azerbaijan government until such blockade is lifted. Azerbaijan
is the only republic of the former 15 republics of the Soviet
Union that has been denied U.S. aid for reconstruction after
the collapse of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, more than $700 million
of U.S. aid has been directed to Armenia since 1992.

Ironically, the blockaded northern
rail route in question is currently under Armenian military occupation
and not under control by the Azerbaijanis. Furthermore, a cease-fire
has been in effect since May of 1994. And though Armenians cry
about the effects of the blockade, they receive ample supplies
from Russia via Georgia and from Iran. In addition, no mention
has been made in Congress about the equally devastating blockade
that Armenians have made against Nakhchivan which is described
in the letter above.

Azerbaijanis consider the U.S.
legislation to be extremely unjust as it rewards the aggressors
in this war. All fighting over Karabakh, which is located inside
Azerbaijan, has been conducted on Azerbaijani territory. Armenians
have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory since 1994.
Hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani refugees have had to flee
this region and still have not been able to return to their homes
and communities.

In the meantime, Armenia is
trying to convince the international investment community that
the pipeline for major oil export from Azerbaijan would be more
economical if it were directed through Armenian territory to
Turkey rather than through Georgia or alternative routes. Such
a proposal is unacceptable to Azerbaijan under the current circumstances.